dagrizz

I own, hunt and shoot 5-stand and sporting clays with my M2. I have shot with several others that use the a variant of the 391 for sporting clays. When I compared the two guns, the 391 had slightly less perceived recoil than my M2. This was using the same loads in both guns and quantified on a 5 shot round. But I still prefer my M2 over the Beretta for reliability. I have been averaging about 3 flats of shells per month since August 2004 and have only had 1 failure to fire. It was the shell not the gun. Another friend tried the same shell in their gun and had similar results. So I would take the M2 any day. Mike

Like I said in my post. Just turn it over and reinstall it. I found out the hard way when I put in backwards after I adjusted my drop shims. Hope this helps. Mike

If I understand your question, you are talking about the steel plate that is in the BUTSTOCK? If so you turn it one way for left handed and the other for right handed. THere is also a shim between the drop shims and the but stock up by the receiver that needs to be done accordingly. Mike

Here is what I do. The first thing I do is remove the choke and clean it up around the threads and aply some light oil to them. It is amazing how much crud gets between the chokes and the barrel. I then reinsert the choke and use a bore snake though the whole thing. Useally 1 swipe does it but some times 2 or 3 are needed. All done now nice and clean bore. I used to use the rod with a brush and swabs as well, but a couple of folks at the range reccomended the bore snake as a better way. I have never looked back at the rods and brushes. Mike

This is all very interesting. I had some stock work done on my M2 that I decided was not all that good. We will leave it at that. I called the Benelli in accocreek to see about a new wood but stock for my M2. It took less than 15 minutes to get through and talk to a real person. I found out that they had the wood stock in house, the part numbers for it that are different than those in the manual and the aproximate cost. They wont sell to customers of the street. Called up the dealer that I bought the gun from and placed an order for the stock and recoil pad. They got me the stock in less than 5 days start to finish. Mike So I cannot complain about the service I got.

Here is my 2 cents worth. I have an M2 field with a wood stock and 28 inch barrel. I use it for Trap, 5-Stand, Sproting Clays and hunting. I have compared the recoil of this configuration against the comfortech stocks using the same loads through a round of 5-stand (25 Birds) and cannot tell the difference in recoil. I did notice slightly less recoil with the Beretta 390's though. But not enough difference to offset all of the jamming issues that I have seen with them at the range and sporting clays courses. I average about 3 flats a month for the clay sports with out any gun related failures to fire. THis is over a 1.5 year period that I have had this gun. I use 2.75" 2.75Dram Eq., 1 ounce #8s for my clays shooting. In the hunting department I bagged 14 pheasant last year, but so far none this year. This year I went on a goose hunt where I ussed 3" #2 and #B heavy shot. I could not tell the difference in recoil between these shells and the 1 ounce target loaads that I use. THis is after going through 2 boxes of each. I was able to get 3 nice canadians. Part of this trip was also a duck hunt and it performed great there as well. This time I was using 2.75" #4 heavy shot with out any noticeable differences in recoil. I was only able to get 2 ducks though. One was a nice mallard drake and the other was a pintail drake. Since the linmit here includes only 1 pintail, and most all of the ducks that were cooperating were pintails that limited my bag. So I think that you can say the M2 is a pretty good gun for your needs. Mike

I use my M2 Field for Trap, 5-Stand, Sproting Clays, Upland Birds, and finally waterfowl.

I have one for my M2 that is the main choke I use for everything from Trap, 5-Stand, Sporting Clays and bird hunting. I had a trip a couple of weekends ago where I ended up with 3 Canadians and 2 ducks using that choke. Good choice. Mike

I am with Tucker and Mudhen. If ya want a field gun get an M2 it has all of the Bells and whistles available that you are looking for. You can get sliug barrels, comfortech etc for it. And best of all it is not ported. just my 2 cents worth on this issue.

I am with mudhen on this one. I had some custom molded ones made at a shoot htis year. I wear them at the range and for hunting. Mike

Glad to see you are back. Hope all went well. Your replies have been sorely missed. Mike

A little over a year ago I bought my M2 for bird hunting. You did not specify the type of stock that you are considering. I have the wood stock on mine. I have compared it against the Comfortech stock and the Beretta 391's and cannot tell any difference between the felt recoils using the same loads for a 5 shot comaprison with each gun. Since that time I have gone to 8 or 10 registered Sporting CLays shoots with it. I also shoot 5-Stand twice a week at the local gun range. When comparing it to the Beretta's it has never jammed or misfired for me. This is after shooting an average of about 3 to 4 flats of shells a month over that year. The only issue is that it does not cycle any thing less than 2.75 dram 1 ounce loads. We also just finished off the last of the pheasants from last season. I ended up wiht 14 birds last year. This year it is going Goose and Duck huntig as well. I would heartily reccomend the M2 as it is more suited to the field type shooting than the SBE's. This is my personal opinion though and and Tucker may dissagree on that one. Mike

I think you are making a good choice in the M2. Wil yours be a comfortech or wood stock? I have the wood version. Old habits. I bought one last August and sofar it has been through 1 upland bird season and is no getting ready for season 2. I can't really comment on the waterfowl shot reccomendations but I used #4 steel for pheasnts or #5 lead where allowed. Ended up with about 15 birds last year. It is going goose hunting on hte 5th of November on the Columbia by Pasco Washington. This gun has also served me quite well for 16-yard trap, 5-stand and Sporting Clays. It has been quite reliable after about 5000 rounds it still has not missed a beet. So good luck and enjoy it when you get it. Mike

I have to vote for the M2 as well. THe Sport II is "optimized" for Sporting Clays, the M2 is a field gun. Both are good guns and I cna personally vouch for the reliability of the M2. Mike

To answer your question above, Yes, Benelli does. You listed one gun there are 2 others. The Sport II and the Cordoba both come with EXTENDED CRIO Chokes. Also the Beretta Onyx Pro comes with extended chokes. I have a set of Briley's X2's that I bought for my M2. It is nice to not have to worry about a wrench or what choke I have installed. Ordered 6 paid for 5 and got a box to hold them all for $230.00 delivered. Mike

I have shot both the supersport and the M2. I personally own an M2. As to the Cordoba and the SBE I cannot comment. So here is my 2 cents worth; I would go with the M2 for the simple reason that the barel is not ported. That is the only thing that would keep me from buying the SS or the Sport 2. I have shot 3 to 4 flats a month through it since August last year when I bought it. This includes upland bird hunting, 16 yard trap, doubles (although only a couple of times), a lot of 5 stand and now sporting clays. I have never had a problem with this gun. The only difference between what you are looking at and mine is that I have the wood stocked version. You can call me old fasioned or what ever but I prefer the wood. I could not tell any difference in recoil between the super sport and my M2 when I shot about 10 rounds through eeach gun back to back as a test to see if the comfortech stock made any difference to me. What ever you choose you wont be dissapointed. Mike

You certainly can. I did just that for shooting sporting clays. I ordered a complete set from Briley's. They work great. But I did not pattern them just accepted them as is and have no noticeable issues with them. The set that I ordered went from IC to Full and set me back about $235.00 including a nice plastic case and all destination charges etc. They had a special at the time of order 6 chokes and pay for 5. The ones that I ordered were the black oxide extended chokes that are knured on the extension. Mike

When I was hunting ducks we used to put the farthest decoy at about 30 yards as a marker. Then wwe would not shoot unles they were inside of that farthest decoy. So why not just use your decoys as a marker.

With that understood, the Sportsmans Warehouse in Silverdale had a 12 Gauge for $890.00 a couple of weeks ago. I almost bought it for my self. I am considering one for a dedicated sporting clays gun. Yeah I know about the Super Sport and Sport II. I just don like ported barels. For the price of the Monte above I can get a new unfinished but stock from wenig in nice walnuut for under $300.00 and it is still cheaper than the dedicated Benelli Sporting Clays guns. Enjoy. Mike

Just out of curiosity, what don't you like about the M2. I have one and it has performed flawlessly for me. The gun shop where i bought it talked me out of the Montefeltro as the M2 was more rugged for hunting. I use my M2 for bird hunting, Trap, 5-Stand and sporting clays. I have about 5,000 rounds through it since August of last year and it has never failed me. Mike

Have your friend check his gun mount. If he is looking straign down the barrel and not seeing rib or verry little then he should be dead on. If he is seeing to much rib then it will shoot high. If he is the other way then he would shoot low. This is if I have my info correct. Other wise it will be the other way around. Mike It is all a mattter of gun fit.

I have the M2 with the same chokes. The chokes are stamped with the choke constriction (CYL, IC, etc.) and whether steeel shot is ok. It is not real obvious because they did not paint over the writing. It is just stamped into the metal. Along with the markings there are 1 to 5 or 6 small notches that also correspond to which choke is installed in the barel so you can remember what choke you have in there. Mike

F'ing A, good buddy! In fact, if we're going on pure skills, with no help from technology, then let's also say that camo clothing (ANY clothing!), blinds, shotguns, shells, dogs, boats, calls, waders, GPS's, flashlights, heaters, and all the other crap we use to take game is for losers as well. If I see some other guy getting all the shooting because he's using a roboduck, you bet your Benelli I've got sense enough to even the score by using one as well. Toss away all of the above listed equipment and use just your "skills".... Welcome to duck-free hunting experience that you'd remember for a long time were it not for the fact that you froze or drowned trying to swim naked to your little piece of the marsh. Just thought that I would add sonme fuel to the fire on this one. From the 2004-2005 Washington State Migratory and Upland Game Seasons pamphlet: "DECOY RESTIRCYTIONS It is unlawfull to hunt waterfowl with the use or aid of battery powered or other electronic devices as decoys." Mike

If you are talking about the extended CRIO CHOKES on the accessories page, then no you cannot use them in your SBE. They are listed as for the Sport II and SuperSport only. I have already looked int those as well. If you really feel you need extended chokes for Clays shooting, I that you might be wasting money. I use my IC choke on my M2 for 5-stand and Sporting Clays with out any issues. If you are looking for extended chokes for the SBE then you might want to try the after market suppliers. Mike

Tucker: you left out the sport II and the Supersport. Both of which have ported barrels. Mike